This invention relates to a cover structure and method for securely holding electrical cables and the like on a support surface or in a bundle.
In the entertainment and communication businesses, electrical equipment, such as cameras, lighting, sound equipment, etc., is typically utilized which requires electrical power for their operation and thus electrical cables for carrying the power from power sources to the equipment. It is not uncommon when using such equipment to run the electrical cable some distance over floor space to facilitate use of the equipment, and such cable is oftentimes maintained in place on the floor by conventional adhesive or, more often, duct tape. The purpose for this is to secure the cable in locations to minimize the chance of someone tripping over the cable and also to prevent damage to the cable.
When it comes time to move equipment such as described above, it is necessary to pull up the tape holding the cable to the floor and this oftentimes leaves a sticky and gummy residue on the cable from the tape used. This of course results in unsightly looking cable, and more difficult and messy handling of the cable during the next use of the equipment unless the sticky and gummy residue is first removed--this of course would require time for cleaning, very probably with a special cleaning solution.
Another problem with holding electrical cable and the like in place on a support surface with conventional tape is that the tape is used only at certain locations along the length of the cable, and so those portions of the cable not being held by tape are still free to move and shift and thus still pose a hazard to people walking in the area.
An alternative to the use of conventional tape to hold the cables in place involves the use of a substantially rigid, elongate bridge cover which extends along and over a cable for some length of the cable. Such covers are suitable for covering substantial lengths of cable, but the covers simply rest on the support surface and are not adhesively attached thereto, and so they may easily shift or move if bumped. Further, the covers cannot be bent or molded into desired shapes to accommodate a variety of cable path configurations, but rather can only be used to cover a cable which lies in a path whose shape coincides to that of the cover.